Strode Theatre

Last Christmas

• 
• 2019
• UK / US
• 1h 43min
• 12A

• Directed by: Paul Feig
• Cast: Emilia Clarke, Henry Golding, Emma Thompson, Michelle Yeoh
• UK release: 15 November 2019

Kate (Clarke) is a Yugoslavian immigrant whose life is going downhill until she meets the mysterious bike-riding Tom (Golding), who seems too good to be true. Thompson and Kimmings’ script is a saccharine romantic fantasy and George Michael’s music isn’t always incorporated effectively, but its heart is in the right place.

Le Mans '66

• 
• 2019
• US
• 2h 32min

• Directed by: James Mangold
• Cast: Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe, Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas, Noah Jupe, Remo Girone, Ray McKinnon

Car designer Carroll Shelby (Damon) teams up with mechanic/driver Ken Miles (Bale) in the story of how Ford tried to beat Ferrari at Le Mans in 1966. The race scenes are directed with thrilling energy, and if scenes between Miles and his wife Mollie (Balfe) are uneven, it’s an effective story about dreamers who risked…

Luce

• 
• 2019
• US
• 1h 49min
• 15

• Directed by: Julius Onah
• Cast: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Octavia Spencer, Naomi Watts, Tim Roth

Peter (Roth) and Amy (Watts) are middle-class parents who adopted a seven-year-old boy from Eritrea. Now a model pupil at a Virginia school, Luce (Harrison Jr) is beginning to behave in disturbing ways. Onah’s film delivers more questions than answers but it’s satisfyingly intelligent and lingers in the mind.

Meeting Gorbachev

• 
• 2018
• UK / Germany / US
• PG

• Directed by: Werner Herzog

A portrait of the last leader of the Soviet Union, culled from three interviews and lots of archive material. Herzog clearly admires Gorbachev and it’s others, such as Lech Walesa, who provide more critical distance. Gorbachev comes across as genial but steely, a harsh judge of his own failings, and it’s fascinating and…

National Theatre Live: Present Laughter

Captured live from The Old Vic in London, Present Laughter is a giddy and surprisingly modern reflection on fame, desire and loneliness directed by Matthew Warchus.